Support All Vets Applying for PTSD Benefits

[wigflip]

For your consideration:

Change.org petition (posted with permission of moderator):
"Support All Vets Applying for PTSD Benefits"

http://www.change.org/petitions/support-all-vets-applying-for-ptsd-benefits

From the petition:
"Last year, the civil rights organization Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) uncovered appalling data. From 2008-2010, the VA only approved 32.3% of Military Sexual Trauma-related PTSD claims versus 54.2% of all other PTSD claims."

For those of you who feel strongly about this issue, I highly recommend the documentary The Invisible War (2012, director Kirby Dick).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2120152/

Thanks for your consideration.

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[wigflip]

I should add that you can sign without making your signature visible to the public.

 

[erg923]

No one is gonna quibble about the about the fact the MST/rape can produce PTSD functional impairment the same as combat trauma does...but to "Support All Vets Applying for PTSD Benefits" is just downright stupid. They should really retitle that...

 

[Ollie123]

Haha yeah, I did a double take when I saw the title. I signed it since the issue is backed by the data I've seen (though admittedly - not my area), and in light of everything else that has come out about the military flat out ignoring these issues I am (sadly) not surprised by this either - but that was a WILD misfire by whoever named the petition if they want support from within the VA system. Bogus PTSD claims are incredibly rampant and while the folks I spoke with about it seemed to have a pretty good system for filtering them out, it poses an enormous, systematic problem for the VA healthcare system right now.

That said - even taking it as a given that something needs to be done, the nuances of how to resolve this issue are not straightforward and may make for an interesting discussion themselves...

 

[paramour]

Wow. I thought I was coming into a minefield for a hot debate when I clicked this one. Only a poorly worded petition this time. What were they thinking?

 

[cara susanna]

Maybe they're not aware of the prevalence of false PTSD claims in the VA?

 

[wigflip]

Maybe they're not aware of the prevalence of false PTSD claims in the VA?

Yikes, I wasn't aware of this either. Perhaps the title of the petition was written by someone at change.org and not the petitioner herself?

I wonder if there's a way to contact the petitioner so that her petition will be better received?

 

[Ollie123]

Not sure, but SWAN contacts might be able to do something (they have a link to there on the site). Though usually edits cannot be made once petitions have been signed. It likely cost them a few signatures, but I doubt its catastrophic. I'm sure it will still get read, its just a bit jarring at first.

Like I said - I think the real issue is going to be that even if everyone is on board that this is a problem...how do we fix it? Its not as simple as approving more claims, as there are a great number of factors that go into each claim and I doubt there is any single factor driving that large a difference.

 

[paramour]

I would hope that folks read further and they didn't lose too much support based on the title of the petition alone. I agree with Ollie that the title was more than a bit jarring for me, and I tend to be more than a bit empathetic with most vets due to my family being heavily inundated with them. Seems to be about the only thing we do.

 

[erg923]

This also assumes you believe the current C&P system in the VA is based on a solid, intuitive logic, that does no harm. I am not one of those people.

I would mention that some might define it, in its current form, as countertherapuetic jurisprudence.

 

[KillerDiller]

Yep, agree with all of the above about the title. The number of vets I saw my year at the VA who were diagnosed with PTSD (and receiving benefits, for that matter) who had never undergone a criterion A event was pretty astonishing.

That being said, MST is a serious issue and I'm glad that it is being recognized in more and more circles. It was certainly taken very seriously at the VA where I worked. I've also been impressed with the circulation of the documentary Wigflip linked to.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agree with the above about the title of the petition being slightly off-putting; perhaps a better choice would've been something like, "support all vets with PTSD in applying for benefits." I can say that the VA seems to be making a push to have providers identify (or at least screen for) MST, and to make resources available for all such victims.

 

[cara susanna]

Yeah, The Invisible War really helped bring about some change.